This invention relates to an apparatus for tilling the soil, and more particularly to an improved garden tiller.
Most conventional garden tillers have utilized a rotating series of tines for tilling the soil. While this arrangement will satisfactorily break and loosen the soil, weeds and vines tend to become entangled in the rotating tines. This entangles the mechanism and limits its soil penetrating ability. An operator, then, must stop the tiller and manually remove the entrapped weeds and vines.
The present invention, on the other hand, utilizes reciprocating soil-working tines which move in an elliptical fashion. This is advantageous since reciprocating tines can more easily cut weeds and vines, decreasing the likelihood of weed and vine entanglement. A further advantage of the present invention is its utility in tilling close to stationary objects. Since the reciprocating movement of the tines permits a deep penetration at the forward-most portion of the tine's travel, the tiller can be operated near large objects such as rocks or trees. A rotary tiller's depth of penetration at the tine's most forward position is limited.
These advantages are made applicable to this invention by utilizing a crankshaft situated inside the tiller frame, with a protective housing enclosing the frame and crankshaft. Movable arms pivotally linked to the frame are attached to the crankshaft and extend outwardly from the frame and through the housing Soil-working tines are attached to the forward-most portions of the movable arms and extend downwardly to engage the soil. As the crankshaft is rotated, the movable arms reciprocate in an elliptical manner, driving the soil-working tines into engagement with the soil. The protective housing also assists in preventing the accumulation of weeds and vines in the crankshaft and drive mechanism.
While prior inventions have disclosed using a reciprocal, elliptical motion to drive soil-working tines or implements by the use of a crankshaft system, none of the prior art is used in connection with a small garden tiller. Much of the earlier prior art is incorporated and limited to the larger application of self-propelled, powered vehicles. Representative examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 880,457 to Koszegi and 1,479,188 to Larson.